Chapter 55


    Maybe it was because of Ace’s unexpected visit to my apartment that made me forget all about Kyle


    and his wedding that weekend. After Ace left, I ended up chewing on one of the doughnuts that he


    bought while continuing with my research on the topic of dog meat trade. By the end of the day, I had


    the public’s opinion of it.


    Although I wasn’t sure if Ace did that intentionally or not, but his visit did provide enough distraction for


    me to stop thinking about Kyle and his betrayal. After spending the whole of Sunday submerging


    myself in my research, I hadpletelye to terms with Kyle moving on and realized that I should


    be doing the same. Kyle probably didn’t need my well wishes but I decided to wish him the best with his


    new phase in life with his wife.


    That night I slept deeply and without dreams as I prepared myself for some grueling work on Monday.


    Kyle had clearly moved on and although I haven’t made any real progress in my love life, I was


    determined to get a move on with my professional career. I’m going to show everyone what I can do on


    this project.


    Monday arrived and soon after I stepped into the lobby of the office building, I quickly found that Ace’s


    unintentional efforts in diverting my attention from Kyle’s wedding didn’t truly work. Despite the many


    great things that I admired about thispany, there were some cultural things that truly got on my


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    nerves. One of those things was the exceptional talent of many employees of thispany in


    gossiping about everything especially their colleagues.


    “You know that Kyle from nning got married the past weekend, right?”


    “Of course. I stalked all social media channels just to get a glimpse at some photos from his


    wedding…”


    “I heard his bride is a real beauty. I bet her family is rich,”


    “Kyle’s family is well-off too. They’re probably a match made in heaven,”


    “Look at this photo here! I got my friend from the nning department to send it over. He was there at


    the wedding,”


    I never realized until we broke up that Kyle was such a celebrity figure in our office. Perhaps, I did


    realize it, but I just ignored it while thinking that it was nothing but a burden to our secret rtionship.


    The more that people paid attention to Kyle and the more that they swarmed around him, the more we


    had to be careful to keep our rtionship hidden. I sighed and closed my eyes momentarily to calm my


    muddled mind.


    There’s nothing for you to hide anymore, Karina. Well, perhaps the fact that you had a one-night stand


    with the Devil CEO…


    Just imagine if that were to get out.


    I stepped into the elevator while I prayed that I wouldn’t run into Kyle. One of these days, I’m going to


    bepletely fine about running into him and facing him; however, that day wasn’t going to be today. I


    moved deeper inside the elevator as more people came in while trying to make myself as small as


    possible. Despite my efforts to keep Kyle and his wedding off my mind, I kept on thinking of the reason


    why he had to lie to me.


    How much of our rtionship was a lie? Was everything simply just a lie?


    All those times when he was kind to me. All those times that he supported me when I was going


    through a hard time whether in life or at work. Was everything just lies?


    When he held me and told me that he loved me. Was that just a convenient lie that he told just so that


    he could use me and sleep with me?


    He’s so popr, though. Wouldn’t it be easier for him to grab one-night stand lovers with the other


    girls?


    Just like always, by the time that the elevator arrived at the CEO’s floor, I was the only one left standing


    all alone and extremely confused in the elevator. The sound of the elevator’s arrival and the door


    sliding open snapped me out of my dark thoughts along with a sting of a headache.


    Enough of this, Karina.


    There’s so much work for you to do and you’re going to have to do extremely well to earn and keep


    your ce on this team of crazy genius A-listers!


    …


    “Start…” Ace said dispassionately from his seat at the head of the meeting table.


    This is it. I stood in front of therge projector screen with everyone’s eyes on me as I was about to


    deliver my first ever presentation as a member of the CEO’s office. After wrecking my brain and


    sacrificing sleep over the weekend, my presentation was ready…hopefully.


    “Hello everyone. In my presentation, I will provide some contextual information on the dog meat trade


    as well as highlight somemon public opinions of the trade. First of all, what exactly is the dog meat


    trade and how does it work?” I began my presentation while trying my best to keep my voice from


    shaking from my nervousness.


    I haven’t worked for that long but over the years that I’ve been at Jesses and Hill’s, I’ve had the


    opportunity to present in various business meetings and also in front of clients. However, the tension


    and pressure of this meeting was on an entirely different level all together and it was just an internal


    meeting without external stakeholders involved. I didn’t dare think of how stressful this project would be


    at the pitching stage and when the clients got involved.


    My past experiences and learning saved me, and I was somehow able to push to the end of my


    presentation while maintaining the attention and focus of my audiences. I thanked Lauren and her


    training and guidance silently in my head when my presentation came to a close. There was a brief


    moment of silence as everyone seemed to absorb in the information.


    Suddenly, a hand shot up into the air.


    --To be continued…